Various chemical and physical deposition processes can be used to deposit materials over a substrate. Some deposition processes rely on patterned deposition, where a mask or other mechanism is used to create nanoscale features within precise tolerances, for example, matching dimensions of electronic nanoscale structures such as transistor path widths, while other deposition processes provide relatively featureless, large scale deposition, such as blanket based coatings or depositions that span tens of microns of distance or more.
There exists a class of fabrication applications for which existing processes are suboptimal. More specifically, for applications where one desires to form a layer over a large region of the substrate relative to nanoscale features, particularly for organic materials deposition, it can be difficult to control uniformity of the deposited layer.
The subject matter defined by the enumerated claims may be better understood by referring to the following detailed description, which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. This description of one or more particular embodiments, set out below to enable one to build and use various implementations of the technology set forth by the claims, is not intended to limit the enumerated claims, but to exemplify their application. Without limiting the foregoing, this disclosure provides several different examples of techniques for fabricating a materials layer using halftoning to control ink droplet density in a manner that will produce a desired thickness of the deposited layer. These techniques can be embodied as software for performing these techniques, in the form of a computer, printer or other device running such software, in the form of control data (e.g., a print image) for forming the materials layer, as a deposition mechanism, or in the form of an electronic or other device (e.g., a flat panel device or other consumer end product) fabricated using these techniques. While specific examples are presented, the principles described herein may also be applied to other methods, devices and systems as well.